The yips are what bring the athlete to my office and the zone is what they want to find. These two well-known states of mind are at opposite ends of the spectrum of athletic performance. Let us take a look at both ends and explore the ways a sport psychologist attempts to get the embattled athlete from point Y as in Yips to point Z as in Zone.
The yips are the bane of any athlete. It is variously described as losing control of one’s body feeling, the loss of fluidity, loss of synchronicity and apprehension that a spasm is about to happen during the swing. It produces massive anxiety and results in unbearable shame. All of a sudden a world class tennis player can’t get his serve over the net anymore, a professional golfer can’t knock in a two-foot putt, a figure skater keeps popping her jumps or a baseball pitcher can’t get a pitch even close to home plate.
The cause of the yips is often erroneously explained as a neurological disorder called focal dystonia despite there not being proof that neurology is the source.
Uniformly when one traces the course of the yips, it had a starting point in the past when a talented prodigy gets to a point where they have ascended to heights of fame and the glare of attention shatters their ego along with their defenses. It isn’t natural for a youngster to manage media interviews, college recruitment pressure and television. That’s when the yips begin.
The yips are a form of dissociation and a sign that the youngster has experienced overwhelming pressure to the point of breaking. Michelle Wie is a good case in point. She was a young golf star with unfathomable talent and was already playing with the big boys on the PGA at the ripe age of 13. The next thing you now is whoops, what ever happened to poor Michelle?
What usually occurs is that the youngster in a state of collapse is given practical and largely ineffective solutions such as changing equipment, changing grip or better yet, told to “just relax and don’t take it so seriously. It’s just a game, go out there and have some fun!”
At the opposite end of all this is the zone where performance is effortless and natural and where confidence is high. When in the zone the athlete has amazing focus on the task at hand and plays as if they are fused with the environment. Where there is anxiety with the yips, there is bliss and joy in the zone.
The University of Chicago’s Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is widely known as the guru of “flow” and suggests that the flow state occurs when the athlete is absorbed, where action and awareness are fused, when time flies and when you let the unconscious take over. These peak experiences are rare, memorable and sought after by all athletes. However he doesn’t say much of interest as to how to get to the zone or how to stay there. His work is descriptive and not connected to persuasive theory.
There is one psychologist who does have something to say about the zone and even manages to reveal why athletes are stuck with the yips. His name is Christopher Bollas and he has spent most of his career treating schizoid and narcissistic types in Great Britain.
Bollas suggests that in infancy the mother repeatedly and instinctively transforms the infant’s agitated state into comfort and bliss with her soothing ministrations. So in earliest childhood we are learning to give over to the mother’s comforting ways by fusing with her love, her feedings, her soothing voice and her affection.
If we apply Bollas’ theory to the athlete, it tells us that they must fuse their body movement with the playing field. When the golfer’s body fuses with his target or when the pitcher’s throwing fuses with the catcher’s mitt, they are in the zone. When the quarterback’s arm fuses with the receiver in football, he is in the zone. If the athlete can be taught to merge or fuse his kinesthetic motion with the target, he is in the zone and transforms himself into a better player.
Who would have guessed that the earliest form of love given to an infant by the mother may be preparing the child to be a world class athlete who finds the zone at will. And if you want a good example of a player who was able to play in the zone almost at will, go watch tapes of the ineffable Tiger Woods. Few know this, but his mother never once used a babysitter and was an incredibly positive influence on him. Most assume that his dad Earl was the one was responsible for his greatness, but if Christopher Bollas is right, it’s his mother who gave him this ability to get into the flow or the zone on a regular basis.
Abraham Maslow referred to the peak experiences of the self-actualized person as being one of the ultimate goals in life. And sports provides the athlete numerous chances to have these peak experiences if they are able to forget everything and somehow merge their body with the beautiful challenges of nature and the playing field. To be at one with the game and to do so in an effortless manner truly is the Holy Grail of sports. These moments do not happen very often but that doesn’t stop athletes from chasing after it. And that’s what I call fun, fun, fun.
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